I watched the documentary called A State of Mind recently. This documentary was an enlightening look at North Korea. The filmmakers had incredible access to the people. The interviews with the children and their parents were powerful. For example, one of the things that stood out to me was the section where the people interviewed said they believed that the United States was responsible for the lower standard of living in North Korea. They said it was the U.S. that was preventing North Korea from being the best nation it could be. This was definitely a very different perspective from everything that is in our popular media.
Most of the film followed the two girls in their training for the games, where they will perform amazing acrobatic routines. They spend countless hours practicing and preparing for the games. They hoped to be able to perform for Kim Jung-Il and other high ranking officials.
One of the girls was from an "educated elite" family, while the other came from the "manual labor" family. The dichotomy between the two families was quite stark. One family had a larger home, with more privileges than the other based on what the government determined is appropriate for their occupation.
This is the first film I've seen that provides an internal look at life in North Korea.
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A State of Mind
05/12/2011 08:02 AM
#1
A State of Mind
Fascinating!! I actually saw a similar documentary a while ago, but this one focused on Chinese kids who were actually raised at government-sponsored schools where they lived year round, some of them since they were as young a three years old, to train for the Chinese Olympic teams in gymnastics. I was taken aback by the pressure these children were put under because not only did they train for long periods of time every day, but also because if they didn’t make it to the team, they were left with the only option to join a circus. Not to mention that they saw their parents a few days the whole year. What was more disturbing, to me a westerner, was the parents’ willingness subject their children to this torture.